King Lear Research Paper

Pride is one of the very many themes that plays a fundamental role throughout the play. Toward the start of the play Lear seems to be a vain and proud old king. Not so much violent, but not safe either. He wants the title of a king but does not want the responsibility that comes with it. His ignorance and pride prompts the distance of his only daughter who truly loved him, Cordelia (Lear 1.1.95) and the revelation that Regan and Goneril’s words were never genuine (Lear 1.1.70). Ignored by both Regan and Goneril, Lear turns against the storm and screams, “I am a man more sinned against than sinning” (Lear 3.2.56-57). Here, Lear still believes that he

In order to relieve himself of the problems and work associated with holding his position so he can "unburdened crawl toward death," King Lear, of pre-Christ Britain, divides up his kingdom into three portions, one for each of his daughters (1.1.41). To decide the daughter to whom he should give the largest portion of the kingdom, King Lear holds a competition that merely serves to feed his ego. He requires each daughter to publicly

Shakespeare’s King Lear, also follows Poetics guidelines of tragedy with the death of Cordelia, and Lear’s kommos. In the beginning of the tragedy, King Lear is ready to disperse his kingdom between his three daughters. “Which of you shall we say doth love us most, / That we our largest bounty may extend/ Where nature doth with merit challenge…”, Lear challenges his daughters (I, i, 53-55). Lear desires for his daughters to express their love for their father and he will give the daughter, with the greatest affection, the largest section of land. Regan and Goneril, two of the daughters, express their great love for their father, yet Cordelia, Lear’s favorite, answers with “Nothing” (I, i, 91). Lear, not receiving the answer he wished for, banishes Cordelia without a dowry to marry the King of France. Lear is then faced with being kicked out of his other daughters’ houses and his own kingdom; after these events Lear proceeds to go insane. King Lear even regrets Cordelia’s banishment later in scene one, “I did her wrong” (I, v, 25). Lear’s actions and selfishness cause pity for Cordelia because of her devotion to her father; however, in the end of the tragedy, he is faced with a realization of his mistake which leads to a katharsis of feelings of pity for Cordelia.

In act 1, scene 1, Lear says that “Meantime [he] shall express [his] darker purpose” (1,1,36). The expression “darker purpose” tells us that there is a secret and a tragedy that is about to be revealed. The power that Lear gives to Gonerill and Regan makes them deceitful. He offers his kingdom to them but in return they must tell him how much they love him “which of you shall we say doth love us most, that we our largest bounty may extend”. (1, 1,56-57). Lear gives an opportunity for his daughters to take advantage of him. Gonerill “loves [him]

In this quote, Lear voices that he never treated his daughters with unkindness during his Kingship, and believes he does not deserve the treatment he is receiving. Lear’s life is filled with deceit and bad things are to come. “Canst thou blame him? /His daughters seek his death.” (III, iv, 165-166) says Gloucester. The kingdom loses its foundation as Lear’s authority slips away.

The overarching theme that surrounds King Lear by William Shakespeare is justice to nearly all. The play opens in a royal “court,” but this court is unjust with wicked people such as King Lear, Goneril, Regan, Duke of Gloucester, Edmund, and numerous others. The justice does not come in this literal court, but the figurative court of nature. King Lear is reprimanded by two of his three daughters along with the natural storm that causes him to lose his mind, Goneril and Regan, whom are wicked are punished by death, Edmund is slaughtered by his brother, Gloucester is punished with the loss of his child, property, wealth, and eyes, and the retribution continues for nearly all the characters. While each player earns their punishment, the most deserving

In the beginning of King Lear, I immediately saw how King Lear wants his three daughters to express their love for him. I believe that this could illustrate King Lear’s fear of growing old and losing importance. The first two daughters, Goneril and Regan, seem to flatter their father with their expression of love for him. It is obvious to me that Goneril and Regan do not actually love their father at all. In contrast, Cordelia, the youngest daughter, gives an honest expression of love when she says, “Unhappy that I am, I cannot heave my heart into my mouth. I love thy majesty according to my bond; no more nor less” (pg. 1257). In return, King Lear believes that Cordelia isn’t truly expressing love since it is not in the form of flattery. This

Death is the common factor of every person’s life. Even literary characters die. By killing off characters, there is some sort of resolution, because there is little to no possible way for a story to continue. Also, with the deaths of several characters in a story, it can bring a sense of justice and retribution for the actions the characters committed throughout. The play, King Lear, ends with the deaths of several characters. At the end of Shakespeare’s King Lear, the deaths of the central characters prove pivotal by helping to provide two of the central themes, justice and retribution, and helps to develop a tragic hero. These two themes will not be shown, if there are no characters that die, or if different characters die.

The Storm in King Lear In Shakespeare, the Bible, and many other famous pieces of literature, the storm and its characteristics, lightening, thunder and rain, have been used to symbolize chaos, destruction or a dramatic upheaval of some sort. As a force of nature, storms remind one that as a human, one is essentially powerless over what they cannot control, including natural elements. In King Lear, the storm on the heath is not only an accurate reflection of Lear’s psychological state, but it also teaches Lear that he, as a king is just as vulnerable to nature’s forces, forcing him to recognize his own frailty. Although Lear never truly develops into a better king, the audience can see that before, during and after the storm, Lear emerges

Shakespeare's tragedy King Lear can be interpreted in many ways and many responses. The imprecision’s and complication of the play has led

He decides upon an early retirement, “to shake all cares and business from [his] age” (I.i.41) and renounces his duty to his country through a foolish game of flattery. Old, lonely, and ignorant of the potential repercussions, he challenges his daughters, in the interest of their inheritance, to see who would be able to profess their love for him best. Whichever daughter could best appeal to his ego, “that we our largest bounty may extend / where nature doth with merit challenge” (I.i.57-58). The largest piece of land would go to whoever expressed their love for him the greatest. For the purpose of entertainment and self assurance that he is in fact loved, he gambles the future of Britain, careless about the impending state of the country. Lear’s “destructive behaviour [is] symptomatic of the lack of appropriate boundaries between his self and the people who surround him” (Stawicka), and as a result of this distorted sense of omnipotence, he has no regard for anyone outside of his immediate social group. He does not think of the political turmoil that he has imposed, and doesn’t concern himself with the fate of the citizens. His only interest is in himself and his well being now that he has given away his land. Ignorant of the detrimental effects that his need for filial admiration has, Lear maintains his immodest mentality, thus

At the beginning of the play King Lear has more power than anyone else, the feeling of power made him think it was okay to ask his three daughters who loved him the most. When his youngest and favourite daughter Cordelia did not give him the answer he wanted by saying, “Unhappy that I am, I cannot heave / My heart into my mouth/ I love your majesty / According to my bond, no more nor less” (King Lear 1.1.91-93). he started lashing out. Lear clearly values Goneril and Regan fawning over him over Cordelia’s sincere honesty. Out of pride and anger, Lear banishes Cordelia, as well as Kent for defending her. Lear splits the kingdom in half to Goneril and Regan which leads to the deaths of many people in the play. Throughout the play he becomes increasingly shocked when people do not obey him the way they did before and the lack of respect he receives. With his loss of power Lear often responds to these problems with anger saying things like “My curses on her!” (2.4.138). about his own daughter. By the end of the play he recognizes that he takes responsibility for both his own problems and for those of others. King Lear’s actions were the first step to the plays tragic outcome.

Lear's actions of distributing his kingdom to his daughters (which in a patriarchal society such as Lear's is against natural law) and his rashness of expelling Cordelia and wrongly rewarding Regan and Goneril, were a violation and misreading of true nature which, from that point on, lead to the destruction and death of Lear and his family.

     The play, “King Lear” by William Shakespeare, starts with noblemen Kent and Gloucester having a conversation and the audience finds out that Gloucester has two sons. Edgar who is his heir, and Edmund his unimportant son. This info. leads to the mini-plot. Then, Lear enters to say that he is going to end his life’s tasks and problems. He then points to the map, he tells the people there that he will split his land into three parts. They are going to be given to his three daughters. The two oldest, Goneril and Regan, tell their father that their love for him goes beyond expectations. The youngest one, Cordelia, tells him that she loves him, but only as she should love her father. He is then

As the play progressed Lear's sanity went downhill, but his vision became clearer. When Goneril and Regan would not provide him with shelter during a furious storm, Lear realized that they were the daughters who did not love him. He also began to understand the words of Cordelia from the beginning of the play, he realized that she loved him too much to put into words.